Kim Stanley Robinson Mars trilogy is one of the grandest
thought experiments in literature, let alone science fiction. Red Mars setting mankind’s inhabitation of the red planet into motion, Green Mars delving into terraforming and
the social and political aspects of the inhabitation, it remains for Blue Mars to make the final statement
regarding man’s potential on Mars. Working ever deeper into the concepts
outlaid thus far, the book continues evolving the series’ main ideas, bringing
our own society into sharper focus by comparison. Fully contextualizing life on Earth, Blue Mars expands to solar system size,
and is thus a grand finale in more than just story.
Wasting no time, Blue Mars picks up events precisely where Green Mars concluded. After
the successful revolution against the United Nations Transition Authority,
those still alive are trying to clean up the remnants of a planet torn by
war. But with the divide between the
Reds and the Greens growing ever wider over the existence of heavily
politicized items, e.g. the space elevator and sun mirror, it may only be a
matter of time before the remnants are smashed even smaller. With the fragile Martian society threatening
to collapse inwardly, evolving the Dorsia Brevia agreement into a planet-wide
constitution may be more than Mars and its people can handle. Complicating matters further is the fallout
of the ecological catastrophe which occurred on Earth at the end of Green Mars. Millions and millions homeless, Mars seems
the obvious point of emigration. But can
the planet’s precocious infrastructure handle the influx? Peaceful coexistence in the solar system is
anything but a foregone conclusion.
Adhering to the structural pattern
established in the first two novels, Robinson continues presenting the text in
sections. Each devoted to a particular
viewpoint, several familiar faces return.
Ann, still believing it is the Martian environment’s right to evolve naturally without the influence of
man, involuntarily finds herself in the middle of the infighting between Reds
and Greens. Sax, ever the believer in
scientific advances, continues to push his terraforming agenda, that is, until
forced to rein back his aggressive policies after receiving a tap on the
shoulder from nature one day. Art, once
again working the role of mediator, spreads himself amongst the various
political factions, trying to find common ground on which to form the basic
political principles of life on Mars.
Nirgal, one of Mars’ first born sons, is sent on a diplomatic mission to
Earth to represent Martian autonomy, but his time there, while spiritually
fulfilling, tests his physical well-being in ways he’d hoped it wouldn’t. Michel, on the same mission to Earth,
revisits his native Provence. Along with
being inundated by flood water, not everything is the same in the city of his
“youth”, a Proustian conflict of memory resulting in the process. Other characters receive air time—including
an important new one—as Robinson continues using viewpoint to build story, a
touching conclusion to the Mars
trilogy the result.
Numerous are the reviews I have read
describing Blue Mars as a “bloated”
and “puffed up” discussion on politics, science, memory, etc. What I can’t figure out is: how did these
readers make it to the third book without noticing this facet of the
series? Suffice to say, Blue Mars contains the same digressive
theorizing, lengthy descriptions of terraforming, and in-depth scientific and
political discussions of the previous two novels. It’s true there is slightly less “action”
compared to Red Mars, but Robinson
has all along made it obvious that the trilogy is not about whizz-bang
theatrics and gripping suspense, rather humanity and humanitarian interests:
specifically how society interacts and to what uses it puts the environment and
regards nature.
Regardless whether the setting is Mars
or Mercury or Venus or Titan, by examining the manner in which this interaction
takes place, Robinson holds a mirror to reality. He asks the reader to question and examine
the paradigms that are in place, and most importantly, those which could or
should be in place. This becomes
especially obvious when looking at the manner and problems associated with how
our Earth has come to be populated. The
novel, and trilogy, is thus a literary and scientific experiment regarding the
possibilities for technology and humanity in the future. For those who have enjoyed the manner in
which Robinson has developed the people, politics, culture, etc. of Mars thus
far, Blue Mars will not disappoint
and will more than likely be a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy. For those along for the ride only because of
the scale of entertainment, be warned Blue
Mars, like Green Mars, is heavy
on discussion and light on action. It is
the finale of a nerd’s dream, not the hero’s—despite the parallels to the
American revolution.
In the end, Blue Mars is a superb conclusion to the Mars trilogy. Borrowing
numerous tropes from the idea-masters of the Silver Age (Clarke, Asimov,
Heinlein, etc.), Robinson continues evolving the Mars colonization in sparkling
form. Imaginative tech like sun mirrors,
gas lanterns, hyper-propulsion, brain plasticizers, genetic engineering, memory
enhancers, asteroid miners, and other ideas are either unique or pay homage to
one of the genre’s masters of old (the space elevators, for example, both bear
Clarke’s name). Maintaining focus on
human evolution (or devolution, depending on perspective), the book continues
to examine societal development through the lenses of hard and soft
sciences. The writing perhaps the best
of the three books, readers should expect a well written (but not stylish)
conclusion to the series that plays with the heart strings as we say goodbye to
characters that have been there since the beginning. There continues to be a fair amount of hand
waving with regards to technical advances and the speed of ecological
evolution, but these were never the main focus.
Human interest at the forefront, Blue
Mars, and the Mars trilogy, is
important science fiction for the 21 st century.
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